Marshall Municipal Band to continue series on courthouse lawn

The Marshall Municipal Band will continue its 2005 season Thursday evening on the east side of the courthouse lawn, expecting another large turnout on what should be a pleasant mid-summer night. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m.

"We've been thrilled with the audience response this summer," said director Kevin Lines. "This is truly a slice of Americana that makes Marshall a wonderful community in which to live."

The traditional opening for a MMB concert, "The Star-Spangled Banner," will be followed by what Lines said is the newest addition to the band's library, John Philip Sousa's "Who's Who in Navy Blue." Lines said Sousa "was asked to compose a work for the 1920 graduating class of the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. It had become a custom for each graduating class to have its own new song or march performed at graduation and the class of 1920 bypassed all other options in favor of the 'March King' himself. Sousa had served in the Navy in World War I, and the Navy connection no doubt had a great deal to do with the decision to invite a work from Sousa and his eager acceptance."

The emphasis on Americana continues with "Centennial Overture" by James Ployhar. Among the "potpourri of melodies that played a prominent part in the history of states in the upper Midwest" are "Garry Owen," "Across the Wide Missouri," "We Want Teddy Four More Years" and "God Of Our Fathers."

Just a week after terrorists struck London, the band will perform a tribute to British war veterans from World War I. "Aug. 4, 1914, was the day when Great Britain declared war on Germany in fulfillment of its obligation to defend Belgium against invasion," Lines explained. "As incredible losses of life mounted beyond comprehension, the families of members in the British Expeditionary Force counted the ranks of the annihilated in total disbelief; 100,000! An army indeed had vanished in Belgium and France and composer Kenneth J. Alford, who was six years into his first bandmastership, composed his response, the poetic march 'The Vanished Army.'"

"'Mystery On Mena Mountain' is based on the legend told in the Ozark mountains in Arkansas of two children who disappeared in that area in 1940," said Lines. "According to that legend, the children, having heard stories, set out to meet the angels, who were believed to live in the clouds that hang in the sky above Mena Mountain."

"The Wizard of Oz," composed by James Barnes, features several melodies from the famed movie including "Over The Rainbow," "Ding, Dong, The Witch is Dead," "We're Off to See The Wizard," "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and "If I Only Had a Brain."

Other pieces to be performed include "Canterbury Chorale" by Jan Van der Roost, Leroy Anderson's "Serenata" and the fiery "March of the Spanish Soldiery."

The closing trilogy will begin with "Fantasy on an Irish Air," based on the hymn "Be Thou My Vision." Next up is the World War I medley "Over There," including parts of "Good-bye Broadway, Hello France!," "My Belgian Rose," "It's a Long Way to Berlin, But We'll Get There," "The Rose of No-Man's Land;" "Keep Your Head Down, Fritzie Boy!" and "Homeward Bound." The concert will conclude with "Uncle Sammy."

Contact Mark Lile at

marshalleditor@socket.net